After the Gallows. Amsterdam-Noord, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jutting down from the lands of the Union of Waterland, a federation of towns (1619-1817) to the north aross the IJ from Amsterdam, is a peninsula now the southern part of the suburb of Amsterdam-Noord. Its tip was called Volewijck, a name derived apparently from a farm that bred horses (in Dutch: 'veulens'). On water's edge from 1404 stood the city's gallows over a well-pit. Once the rope holding up a dead victim of justice rotted through what remained after crows' feasting dropped neatly and cleanly into that well. The inset has a rendition of the mise-en-scène by Gerrit Lamberts (1776-1850) after a drawing by Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816). In Napoleontic times, these gallows gave way to the efficient guillotine. The first execution in Amsterdam using that instrument took place in front of the Waag on the Nieuwmarkt in 1812 (the last in 1854).
The inset is more or less right above the place where those gallows stood just to the east of the A'dam Tower (Toren Overhoeks) where they're building a set of new towers: Y-Torens. Guess of what those cranes reminded me...
This view is from the central railway station looking towards Amsterdam-Noord. I've never seen the IJ frozen over as in the inset.
After the Gallows. Amsterdam-Noord, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jutting down from the lands of the Union of Waterland, a federation of towns (1619-1817) to the north aross the IJ from Amsterdam, is a peninsula now the southern part of the suburb of Amsterdam-Noord. Its tip was called Volewijck, a name derived apparently from a farm that bred horses (in Dutch: 'veulens'). On water's edge from 1404 stood the city's gallows over a well-pit. Once the rope holding up a dead victim of justice rotted through what remained after crows' feasting dropped neatly and cleanly into that well. The inset has a rendition of the mise-en-scène by Gerrit Lamberts (1776-1850) after a drawing by Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816). In Napoleontic times, these gallows gave way to the efficient guillotine. The first execution in Amsterdam using that instrument took place in front of the Waag on the Nieuwmarkt in 1812 (the last in 1854).
The inset is more or less right above the place where those gallows stood just to the east of the A'dam Tower (Toren Overhoeks) where they're building a set of new towers: Y-Torens. Guess of what those cranes reminded me...
This view is from the central railway station looking towards Amsterdam-Noord. I've never seen the IJ frozen over as in the inset.